US: Whiskey Row to get star attraction

Heaven Hill Distilleries is to open a bourbon tourist experience in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Evan Williams Bourbon Experience will be a “multi-million dollar artisanal distillery” and “immersive tourism experience”.

The company is to renovate its building at 528 West Main Street, in the heart of what was once called “Whiskey Row” in Louisville. Plans for the renovation include a five storey high Evan Williams bourbon bottle. The experience is scheduled to open in September 2013.

The development will also include a shop and a speakeasy-themed events space and the company expects it to attract 100,000 visitors annually.

Heaven Hill executive vice president Harry J. Shapira said: “It brings together a lot of important economic development, tourism and historical forces—an important new manufacturing and distillation facility, a major Louisville and Kentucky-themed attraction, and the history of Whiskey Row and Evan Williams as an important Louisville figure and early distiller.”